LAREDO, Texas – On January 3, 2017, Border Patrol agents from the Laredo Sector and Rio Grande Valley Sector collaborated in the rescue of 44 undocumented immigrants from a stash house located in the Rio Grande Valley Sector area of operations.
Border Patrol agents received information regarding undocumented immigrants being housed in a home south of Donna, Texas. The smuggler and 44 illegal immigrants were taken into custody for processing. Agents, in collaboration with Hidalgo County Constable’s Office Pct. 1, obtained consent to search the home. Inside the home, agents arrested a total of 44 people who admitted to being in the United States illegally. The immigrants were from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. All subjects were transported to the Weslaco Border Patrol station and processed accordingly. The smuggler, a resident alien from Mexico, has been referred for prosecution.
“The outstanding work done by all involved is a great example of how our enforcement strategy, utilizing collaboration across the South Texas Corridor, is working,” said Rio Grande Valley Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Raul Ortiz. “In this case, 44 illegal immigrants were spared from being held in a crammed stash house and a smuggler was apprehended.”
“The callous disregard for human life in which these persons were subjected to and the inhumane conditions that they were placed in demonstrates how heartless these smugglers can be,” said Laredo Sector Chief Patrol Agent Mario Martinez.
